This invention relates to a lockable ring assembly for securing an electric meter in an associated meter box, thereby preventing theft of electricity through tampering with the installation of the electric meter.
Theft of electricity by tampering with the installation of electric meters is a major problem of electrical utility companies. For many years, an electric meter was secured in its associated meter box by a split ring having a U-shaped cross section for securing the electric meter in the meter box and having radially extending parallel legs which were bolted together to prevent removal of the ring. The legs of the ring were further provided with a wire and an impressed lead seal with the idea that removing the ring to tamper with the electric meter would require disturbing the seal and thereby become evident to personnel of the electric utility company. However, the seal could be released with very little force and often with little evidence of tampering. Thus, there existed a need to lock the electric meter in its meter box rather than merely to seal the mounting device.
Many devices for locking the prior art split ring have been proposed. These devices generally comprise various housing adapted to fit over the radially extending legs of the split ring. The housings receive a barrel lock, which secures the housing from removal and often secures the legs of the split ring together as well. Examples of such devices are found in Morse U.S. Pat. No. 3,867,822, Lundberg U.S. Pat. No. 4,008,585 and Nielsen U.S. Pat. No. 4,158,953. A related device is found in Heckrotte U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,180.
Drawbacks to these prior art locking devices include that they are overly large for the purpose to be accomplished, and are somewhat time consuming to install. Although they are used with a split ring of standard prior art configuration, including the radially extending legs, the split rings must be modified by providing aligned holes in the radially extending legs for receiving either the barrel lock itself or a locking member of the housing. Overall, the prior art locking devices, including a modified split ring, are relatively expensive to manufacture. Thus, none of the prior art devices has solved the problem of locking an electric meter in a totally satisfactory manner.